Do you have someone in your life (past or present) that you look to as an example of virtue in action? The Stoics did. They turned to the life of figures like Socrates and Cato. Similarly, many spiritual traditions have great Saints and theologians as models or guides to follow.

In a passage from the Enchiridion, Epictetus says, “From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event. That is how Socrates fulfilled himself by attending to nothing except reason in everything he encountered. And you, although you are not yet a Socrates, should live as someone who at least wants to be a Socrates.”

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